Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Allied Blenders and Distillers' Q3 and Nine-Month FY 2026 Post-Earnings Conference Call, hosted by Antique Stock Broking. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded.
I now hand the conference over to Mr. Abhijeet Kundu. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Kundu.
Yeah. Hi, thanks. It's our absolute pleasure to host the management of Allied Blenders and Distillers Limited for the third quarter of FY 2026. Over to Mr. Mukund, Head of Investor Relations and Chief Risk Officer, for further proceedings. Thank you.
Thank you, Abhijeet. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining our Q3 FY 2026 results conference call. I hope you have received a copy of our results presentation. I would like to urge you to go through this along with the disclaimer slides. Today, we have with us from the management of ABD, Mr. Shekhar Ramamurthy, Executive Deputy Chairman, Mr. Alok Gupta, Managing Director, Mr. Jayant Manmadkar, Chief Financial Officer. I would like to hand over the call to our MD, Alok Gupta, who will give a summary of the company's quarterly performance before we open up for Q&A. Over to you, Alok.
Thanks, Mukund. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for joining us today for the Q3 and the nine-month FY 2026 earnings call of Allied Blenders and Distillers. I'll also take this opportunity to wish each one of you the very best for the year ahead. I'm pleased to share that this quarter marks our sixth consecutive quarter of strong performance post-listing, with consistent improvement in the premiumization of our portfolio, margins and cash flows. The sustained performance over the last several quarters underscores the effectiveness of our strategy, which remains firmly centered around driving profitable growth, strengthening our premium portfolio, and investing in backward integration to enhance margin and ensure supply chain security. During Q3 FY 2026, our consolidated income from operations stood at INR 1,004 crore, representing a 2.8% increase over Q3 FY 2025.
EBITDA for the quarter was INR 137 crore, reflecting a 14.1% year-on-year growth, with an EBITDA margin improvement to 13.6%. This improvement was driven by better product mix, operating leverage, and benefits from backward integration, while we continue to invest behind our brand and building our luxury portfolio. On the profitability front, PAT grew by 10.9% year-on-year to INR 64 crore during the quarter. For the nine-month period, our consolidated income operation stood at INR 2,929 crore, representing a 12.4% increase over nine-month FY 2025. EBITDA for the period was INR 386 crore, reflecting a 28.1% year-on-year growth, with EBITDA margin improving to 13.2%, and PAT at INR 182 crore, reflecting a 57% year-on-year growth.
Our nine-month performance is a performance reflection of strong fundamentals, steady revenue growth, improving margins, and strong operating cash flow generation, reinforcing the scalability of our business model and structural benefits of premiumization. In terms of volume, we sold 9 million cases in quarter three FY 2026, marking 1.3% year-on-year increase, supported by a 0.7% improvement in realization per case, driven by an improved product mix and selective price increases. At the industry level, the mass premium whiskey segment softened during Q3 FY 2026. As already discussed over Q2 FY 2026 earnings call, stocking norms in Telangana were impacted due to the retail license auction process, which led to temporary moderation in the trade inventory levels. We are expecting normalization during Q3 FY 2026 itself, and normalization is also visible in January 2026.
In Maharashtra, policy-driven price changes affected consumer affordability and buying behavior, resulting in a lower consumer uptake. Together, these region-specific factors contribute to subdued demand condition across the industry for the quarter. Within our portfolio, Officer's Choice continues to play a pivotal role in the business. The brand maintains its leadership position in the mass premium segment in India and remains the country's top exported whiskey brand. Despite category-level headwinds, Officer's Choice gained incremental market share during nine-month FY 2026 and also in Q3 FY 2026, reflecting sustained brand strength and distribution reach. Importantly, the brand continues to deliver improving gross margins, now at about 45%, making it a critical driver of profitability and cash flow in the company.
Our P&A portfolio continued to demonstrate strong momentum. Volume grew 16.9% on year-on-year basis, resulting in a meaningful improvement in the salience of P&A segment to 48.5% in Q3 FY 2026, compared to 42% in Q3 FY 2025. This sharp improvement reflects the continued success of our premiumization strategy and our focus on building scale with value. ICONiQ White continues to be a standout performer and remains one of the strongest pillars of our premiumization journey. ICONiQ White has also emerged as a brand of choice for the new consumer coming to the legal drinking age, further strengthening its long-term growth potential. The brand continues to expand its presence both domestically and internationally, reinforcing its role as a key growth engine within our P&A portfolio.
For the nine-month period, it has delivered 7.7 million cases, compared to 5.7 million cases delivered in the entire previous financial FY 2025. It is well on progress to touch 10 million cases mark in this financial year. Coming to our next millennial brand, Sterling Reserve B7. In Q2 FY 2026, we introduced a refreshed blend with enhanced smoothness and taste, supported by a nationwide campaign, "So smooth, must be magic," and a differentiated digital collaboration with cricketer Shreyas Iyer. This initiative helped strengthen consumer engagement and drove traction across select priority markets. This underscores our continued focus on product improvement and consumer-centric brand building. Building on this momentum, we are progressing towards the launch of a contemporary packaging by Q1 FY 2027, aimed at appealing to the new age consumer and supporting further market share expansion.
Officer's Choice Blue, one of our millionaire brands in the prestige segment, continues to be a strong regional power brand, supported by the equity and recall of Officer's Choice franchise. Currently, our focus on refreshing the brand through our international style packaging is well on track, and we expect it to roll out in Q1 FY 2027. Update on our CSD market. CSD is one of the most profitable sales channels for the industry, with the annual volume of 10 million -12 million cases and is strategically important. We are pleased to share that four new brands of ours have now been approved within the CSD market: Jolly Roger Rum, Sterling Reserve B7, Kyron, and ICONiQ. Some of these brands we've also started building. This approval in CSD will become yet another growth track for our brands, especially for SRB7 and ICONiQ Whiskey .
ABD Maestro made strong progress during the quarter. We launched three new brands: Rangeela Vodka, YELLO Designer Whisky , and AODH, which is pronounced as A, Irish Whiskey, further strengthening our premium and luxury offering. These launches are aligned with ABD Maestro's focus on building differentiated, design-led brands anchored in quality and craftsmanship, and positions us well to participate in the fast-evolving premium consumption landscape. Now, we have built nine brand portfolio with unique flavor, price point through a build, buy, and partner model. Alongside new brand, ABD Maestro continued to expand its presence across key consumption channels. During the quarter, we introduced our premium portfolio at Mumbai International Airport, adding to the existing duty-free presence at Delhi and Bangalore Airport, and enhancing brand visibility among international travelers and premium consumer.
Our international expansion strategy continues to deliver strong results. Over the last 21 months, ABD has expanded its footprint from 14 countries to 31 countries, highlighting the effectiveness of our asset-light, high-margin export model. This model delivers high profitability than the domestic business and operates with significantly lower working capital per case. ICONiQ White now is present in 9 countries. ABD Maestro's brands Zoya and AODH is now available in three countries, in UAE, Ivory Coast, and New Zealand. By Q4 FY 2026, we are targeting to expand our international presence to 35 countries.
Moving to our backward integration program. Backward integration program, as you all know, has been designed in terms of being EBITDA accretive, and it continues to be executed in a phased manner and a discipline where the focus is on cost of build, time to build, and delivering the margin, and is aligned with our long-term objective of growth, margin expansion, and balance sheet strengthening. Phase one, outlined in previous quarters, we had announced INR 525 crores of investment program, including a PET bottling manufacturing facility, which is fully commissioned and is running to capacity and adding to the margin. Our two other projects of malt distillery in Telangana and ENA distillery in Maharashtra are on track. Together, these strategic initiatives are expected to enhance our gross margin by 300 basis points by FY 2028, quarter four.
In phase II comprises of incremental growth CapEx announced in January 2026, focused on expanding own capacity across critical nodes of the value chain. These include an investment of approximately INR 110 crore in Uttar Pradesh, which is a large market for us. The investment includes around INR 40 crore towards upgradation and commissioning of a fully automated bottling facility, enabling meaningful own versus outsourcing arbitrage, with the optionality of future ENA distillation expansion on the site. This bottling unit is expected to be operational by Q3 FY 2027, and will also save us the franchise fee of INR 27 per case, which is currently payable. In addition, the company has approved a further investment of approximately INR 54 crore in our subsidiary, Meenakshi, which is in Maharashtra, towards expansion of bottling capacity at Aurangabad facility.
This investment will support growing demand in the western region and international market, while improving the operational efficiency, optimizing logistics costs, and enhancing margin through high utilization of owned bottling infrastructure. The expanded facility is expected to be operational by FY, Q4 of FY 2027, and will again add to our EBITDA margins. Overall, our CapEx strategy remains centered on disciplining capital deployment, deeper backward integration, and building scalable margin-accretive capacity while maintaining balance sheet throughput. Our performance continues to reflect strong operating cash flow generation, supported by robust profitability and disciplined working capital management.
During Q3 FY 2026, we generated operating cash flow of INR 173 crores. Our net debt position stood at INR 785 crores as on 31 December 2025, compared to INR 893 crores as on 30 September 2025. This reduction in the net debt is during our CapEx phase and continued investment on luxury portfolio, with leverage metrics remaining well within our stated framework. During Q3 FY 2026, some of the long-pending overdues were cleared in Telangana market for the industry participating, including ABD. The overall industry outlook remains cautiously optimistic with respect to progressive clearance of remaining dues, in addition to collection of regular debt.
Looking ahead, the Indian alcohol industry continues to witness growth driven by premiumization, portfolio expansion, and evolving consumer preference. The P&A segment remains the key growth driver, supported by innovation and improving route to market framework. Regulatory reforms in select states have supported volume recovery, with a stable raw material environment that continues to aid margin stability. While state-level regulatory changes and emergence of local brands in certain markets, such as Maharashtra, remains area to monitor, we remain confident in our ability to navigate this dynamic through a portfolio standing, execution discipline, and deep market understanding.
Overall, we expect strong pipeline, strong top line growth in quarter four, underpinned by our focus on consumer-centric, growth. As we move forward, our focus remains on improving unit economics, driving value-added volume growth, keeping our portfolio consumer-centric, and deploying capital with discipline. With a strong brand portfolio, expanding international presence, and robust manufacturing backbone, ABD is well poised to play a leading role in India's growing premium consumption market, and continue delivering long-term value to all our stakeholders.
Thank you once again for your continued interest and support. We will now open the floor for questions.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, please wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question comes from the line of Nitin with Emkay. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. My first question pertains to Telangana market. Could you shed some light on what really affected our volume in Telangana market in terms of the route to market changes? And, like, it would be great, like, if you can highlight what is the split of P&A and mass premium in Telangana market. And lastly, in Telangana, as the restocking is progressing, so can we expect equally good quarter Q4 compared to the weaker quarter in Q3? So that's the first question.
Thank you, Nitin. As far as Telangana is concerned, it's been interesting quarter three. Therefore, in quarter three, what really happened was that the P&A segment actually grew by 17%. ABD portfolio also grew at 17.5%, so mildly ahead of the market. It was the mass premium segment that de-grew at about 7.4%, and we also de-grew about 7%. Overall, the industry grew at about 9%. So what really happened was that the licenses came back for rebid, and the rule is that whatever stock is held by a current licensee needs to be sold off because the government does not take back the stock. And essentially, therefore, the buying by the current licensees came down dramatically.
They stop buying because they have to finish all the stocks that they are holding, and it's only when the new licenses come into play, they start buying. This creates a disruption of about six-eight weeks. That is what we saw in Q3. Keeping in mind that they also look at rotation of stock, the margin that they make, typically P&A continues to get support, but the stocking gets decelerated on mass premium. That's why it reflects in continuous growth on the P&A segment and a de-growth of 7% in the mass premium segment. In January, we are expecting-- From January, we are already seeing that the stocking patterns are getting back to normal, so Q4 hopefully will be on track as things stand.
Your second question was on what is our outlook on Q4, is that right? Hello?
Yes.
Nitin?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. So, I think, just one quick number, that if you were to look at our growth without Telangana and Maharashtra, you would find that we've actually grown significantly faster. Now that in Q3, the environment seems reasonably settled in Telangana, and seemingly reasonably settled in Maharashtra, we are back on our growth track. So like we said earlier, we are targeting a double-digit growth in Q4.
Thank you. With respect to this mass premium sort of seeing a decline, so this is like given we are the sort of having a largest share in this market, so that's where this impact is visible for us, unlike the competition. Would that be a fair assessment?
So in Telangana, specifically, the mass premium segment comprises of where we operate. We are virtually 100% of the market, but there is also a growing price point below the Officer's Choice price point. So the 7% de-growth that you are seeing in the segment is on both the our price point, which is about INR 160 and INR 130 rupee price point.
Okay, thanks. Second question pertains to this, Minakshi Agro , like, where we are looking to go for INR 54 crore of CapEx. So like this is additional capacity announced for the bottling unit. Like, just wanted to know your thoughts around, like, when we initially wanted to have the distillation capacity, why we have not budget for this? And, is this also related to like, another question I have in terms of the MML participation, Maharashtra Made Liquor participation. So is it, somewhere related to that? Can you clarify on that?
Most certainly. So currently, given the size of business in Maharashtra and the fact that we also export ex-Maharashtra across the globe, we are currently getting our brands bottled across four different units, for which ENA has to be moved, let's say, through tankers, to all the units. So the immediate efficiency that we see coming on back of having bottling at the same premises where ENA distillation is happening, is that you will-- we will move ENA through pipe. So it's extremely value accretive in cutting down the transportation cost, one, and secondly, cutting down the working capital. Because currently we are stocking ENA at four different locations. There is ENA, which is in transit. Here, everything is on a pipeline. So therefore, it is clearly there's a clear business case merit that the bottling should coexist with, the ENA, facility.
The reason why we've announced now is because, as you are aware, that we need to get approvals. Only once we got approvals in our hand, have we announced this facility, in January. So that answers one. As far as MML is concerned, I'm sure all of you are aware that there has been a recent development where High Court has, High Court has advised that, you know, all manufacturers should go ahead and file their applications if they want to participate in MML. Meenakshi has indeed filed its application, as they qualify for MML, and, if MML application of ours is approved, then this bottling facility will also come in handy, to serve the MML market. But standalone, there is a significant merit for us to have the bottling plant within the ENA premises.
Yeah, thanks, really helpful updates. And lastly, around this realization, so we have seen sort of a decline in realization for both P&A and Mass Premium. So does this pertains to state mix, or is there anything to read through in?
Sure. State mix, nothing else.
Sure, got it. Thanks a lot, and all the very best.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Abneesh Roy with Nuvama. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks. My first question is on the FTAs. So first is, what will be your take on UK FTA delay, given UK Parliament is yet to approve? Do you think that Q2 is the realistic date or H2? Second related question is, the EU deal, mother of all deals has been signed, that does suggest gradual reduction in terms of imported spirits from EU. Would you see this as a non-event, or would you see this as a mild positive or a mild negative?
Right. So as far as the India-UK FTA is concerned, the feedback that we have is that Q2 looks like the period in which the FTA should come into place. So for now, we are holding on to the Q2 guidance. As far as the India-UK FTA is concerned, I think the world order has changed significantly, and we are hopeful that that will also act as a reason to accelerate the FTA implementation. As far as the India-UK, India-EU FTA is concerned, I think from an India business perspective, it's not a relevant event because what we import from EU is largely vodkas, we import liqueurs and brandy. It's a very small part of the alcobev consumption in India.
I feel that what could be a very interesting opportunity is for us to participate in the EU market. We, for example, are considering setting up a hub in Europe, right? To be able to feed multiple countries within EU. So our view is that this could be a very interesting opportunity for our luxury portfolio, our mainstream portfolio. We are already shipping to Spain and Italy, so we've started our business in Europe. And as our single malt comes on stream in 2029, this route could become very, very effective in terms of driving growth. So I would say that interesting opportunity on outbound trade and very nil to negligible impact on inbound trade.
Sure. You comment that Q4 you are targeting a double-digit sales growth because kind of stability is coming in both the key states where there was an issue in Q3. The third question is the Maharashtra, what will be the additional impact of Maharashtra may decline, because Q4 will see all three months see that impact. So given that, is it a bit early to say that stability is coming in Maharashtra?
So when I mentioned stability, what I meant was that we believe that significant consumer movement has happened in terms of those who are opting for MML and those who are staying with IMFL. So it's easy for us to model as to what volumes we can get out of Maharashtra. And therefore, when we are talking about our guidance for Q4, we've already factored sort of that what sort of volumes will come on Maharashtra. That's the point I was trying to make. By stability, it's not, it's not that the market is back on track. We are saying now we know what the stable state of market is going to look like.
No, I could not fully get it. Simple question is, in Q3, Maharashtra industry has seen a double-digit volume decline. In Q4, also, it will be a decline, so how will it not impact your numbers in that case?
When you're saying Q4, there'll be further decline, that will be on back of what?
No, on a Y-o-Y, still there will be a decline, Q4.
I've got your answer now. I've understood your question now. So I think the way we are--w e are saying we have the Q3 numbers, right? So it's not about what happened in Q4 last year. We have the Q3 numbers for FY 2026, and therefore, we model saying what are the likely size of the industry in Q4, FY 2026 in Maharashtra. And when we are talking about overall growth, to be double digit, we have factored that Maharashtra will continue to operate at significantly lower level. So the comparison is not with the degrowth that we will see in Q4, FY 2026 versus Q4, FY 2025. We have actually modeled this in saying that the market is down, as you're likely saying, by high double digits.
So that does mean that Telangana and rest of India, except Maharashtra, should compensate for the, say, double-digit decline in Maharashtra, even in Q4. Only then it's possible, right?
That is right. That is correct.
Understood. That's all from my side. Thanks a lot.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Mehul Kirish Desai, JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Good evening. Thanks for the opportunity. Firstly, obviously, you gave a guidance of, you know, double-digit growth in Q4, which looks like, you know, if we, if we maintain our, mid-teens kind of sales growth in P&A, maybe let's say 16%-17%, it looks like, the mass premium segment, your assumption is, should be at least a low single-digit decline or flattish on a Y-o-Y basis. So just wanted to get your understanding. Is that understanding correct? And obviously, Q4 double-digit, but how do you look FY 2027? I mean, you will be lapping up, a high base now. So how does, what is your guidance for FY 2027, both on P&A side and mass premium segment? If you give-- If you can give some color on that, that's my first question.
Right. I think there is one more factor to consider when we are talking about our value growth is that the ABDM portfolio is now complete. We have nine beautiful brands out there. We are already seeing about a 40% width of distribution in the premium on-premise. We've been able to open up the duty-free. We have started to ship in international markets. If you'd recall, we had said that we are running currently at about INR 40 crore ARR in quarter three, which we should double in quarter four and go on to double the next year. So another significant driver of our value growth is going to be the revenue that will flow to us from our luxury portfolio.
So that will be on top of our mainstream legacy portfolio. So that's an important part of how we see our value growth engine getting shaped up. As far as the FY 2027 is concerned, there are two or three things that we are planning. One I've already covered, which is the ABDM accelerated growth. So we are looking at doubling our ARR in the next financial year. Secondly, we are looking at two new launches, one new launch, one already existing launch in the P&A non-whiskey segment, which is really the Prestige Vodka and the Prestige Brandy. And we are hopeful of garnering profitable shares from these two flavors, which is brandy and vodka put together. They're about 30 million cases.
Also in the southern market, we've been able to get some approvals for long-pending new brand introduction there, and that will allow us to participate in high volume profitable segments. So, in Q4, we are expecting these two approvals to fall in place. That will also create a growth pipeline for us in the next financial year.
Understood. Secondly, on the margin front, obviously, your gross margin progression is much faster than what your guidance is of, you know, 45% plus in FY 2028. You are already at 46%- odd . And there are a few more backward integration projects that are going to come in FY 2027 and obviously something in FY 2028, too. To that extent, how do you see this gross margin trajectory also in FY 2027? And would you think that, you know, your 15% margin guidance of FY 2028, you know, can come in FY 2027 itself?
So the FY 2028 margin guidance we had revised last quarter, we had taken the margin guidance to 18%, largely on back of the fact that we are seeing a faster gross margin progress on our current portfolio. The CapEx program will add 300 basis points, of which right now in quarter three, we have captured just about 0.7. So there's another 230 basis points to flow in from our CapEx project. And of course, let's assume that quarter two, the India-UK FTA is up and running. That will add another 200 basis points. So we are expecting that by FY 2028, we should be at least at an 18% margin guidance.
Understood. Okay, that's helpful. Lastly, sir, if you could quantify the CapEx for FY 2027, overall CapEx with all the projects that you are undertaking in FY 2027 and FY 2028.
So the CapEx that we have announced till quarter three, FY 2027 is about INR 575 crore. The two new CapEx programs that we have announced gets us to about another INR 150 crore of CapEx. So that is about INR 700 crore CapEx that we have announced so far. Of course, we keep looking for opportunities that come our way. Again, from a guidance perspective, we have said that we would want to get ENA capacity equal to our consumption. We would have needed three units, ENA units.
So one we have in Telangana. Second we are doing in Maharashtra, and we will need one more ENA unit in a large market like UP or in Andhra. So we are figuring that out. So that is the CapEx that we'll announce in the future. But as of now, the total CapEx commitment is just over INR 700 crore.
Got it, sir. That's helpful. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Kaustubh Pawaskar with ICICI Direct. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, sir. Thanks for the opportunity, and congrats for good margin performance. Sir, just a clarification on the margin guidance. You just mentioned that 230 basis points is going to flow through the CapEx project. So does it include this phase II of the CapEx, which you are planning to do, or that will be the incremental over what the CapEx you are planning to do in phase I?
This is from phase I. The first phase of the investment, which was roughly INR 550 crore, 300 basis points was to come from that. 0.7 we've realized, which is our pet project, so the balance 1,430 basis points will come from the first phase. The second phase will become value accretive in H2 of next financial year.
Okay. So there is a scope of further margin expansion because of the second phase, second phase of your-
That is correct. That is correct. I mean, in UP alone, for example, once the bottling unit is up and running, we need not pay the INR 27 franchise fee on a base of about 6 million cases. That in itself is, y ou know, that itself is better realization in UP.
Right. And so my second question is on, you know, the funding of the CapEx. So, all the CapEx, what you are planning to do, like including the INR 150 crore, the additional CapEx, what you are planning to do, it will be largely funded through internal accrual. So, since your cash flows are improving, you are also expecting, the Telangana overdue to, you know, flow in, in the coming quarters. So that should help, you know, to create a good cash flow to fund all this, CapEx?
So, first of all, all our investment decision will be guided by the financial KPIs that we already committed to in terms of net debt to equity and other key financial ratios. So we make sure that all our decisions respect those guidelines. I think we are working with two scenarios. One scenario is, as you have mentioned, is Telangana payments coming through, and second scenario is that if, you know, Telangana payments were still slow to come by. Because these CapEx programs have merit on standalone basis, we don't want to link the implementation of the CapEx program to Telangana receivables. Therefore, if Telangana money was to come through, we will see incremental change in our net debt.
Even if Telangana payment does not come through to the level expected, we'll still go on with the CapEx program, because like I said, these two new CapEx program will become value accretive within six months. There is no point in delaying this CapEx program.
Sure. And so my last question is on, you know, having a bottling unit in Uttar Pradesh, you know, how will it help you, you know, to expand your share in the UP market? As you know, that UP is one of the, you know, largest market, and, you know, how will it help us, you know, maybe to expand our share in that particular market?
Well, there are two aspects of the UP investment. One, of course, is the saving on the franchise fee of INR 27 a case as it exists today, and therefore becomes margin accretive from day one. Secondly, UP is a very large state, therefore, in addition to our own 6 million capacity, we are also exploring maintaining a second unit for manufacturing, because there are significant savings in terms of logistics when we look at inbound costs and outbound costs. So I think we should be looking at running more than one bottling unit. But the key driver for this unit is really the franchise fee, which is INR 27 a case.
Okay. Thank you, sir. Thanks for that.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Aliasgar Shakir with Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, sir, thank you all for the opportunity. A couple of questions, sir. First, question is on the, you know, volumes. So, you know, this year, our P&A has done very well, thanks to the, you know, success of ICONiQ. Now, you did discuss about, you know, the scope of possibility of ABD Maestro and, also some of the other brands that you are trying to rejuvenate. So just wondering, I mean, next year, what is the thought in terms of your growth? How much of this P&A growth you are expecting ICONiQ to continue and, you know, the new brands to, you know, contribute? Because right now, P&A is largely driven by the ICONiQ's growth. That's question number one.
Question number two is, now, you have improved, increased your margin guidance to 18%, thanks to the backward integration measures. But, quick question over here is that, should we build also some impact coming from two areas? Point number one is, the new brands that you have, will be launching or rather you have launched in ABD Maestro and others, you know, what is the investment that will go towards them in the initial period when the scale will be, you know, suboptimal? And also the, projects that we are doing on backward integration will probably take some time to achieve scale. Until then, they may probably operate at suboptimal level and therefore could be margin dilutive. So, you know, if that.
Are these two impacts already built in your margin when you are building the 18%, and how much is it from these two?
Right. So let me take the CapEx question first. I think you should look-- I mean, I'm just taking an example. I think at the heart of our CapEx strategy are three simple principle. One is cost of build, second is time to build, and third is targeted margin. So therefore, if you take UP as an example, we have announced the acquisition a few days back. We are targeting the asset to turn around in the next six-nine months. So we know the cost of build, we know the time to build, and essentially, we are putting a 6 million case, fully automated, state-of-the-art automated plant. Our current volumes are enough to support the entire capacity utilization.
So I think we are quite conscious that when we are putting CapEx behind any program, we are quite conscious that our capacity utilization must be at a targeted level. Only then we will be able to realize the rupee crore EBITDA that we have put into our modeling. So that's one thing I can assure you, that we will not invest in CapEx, where it'll take us inordinate amount of time from a capacity utilization. So even if you look at the single malt distillery we are setting up in Telangana, roughly 55% of our volume will go in replacing our current malt that we are buying from third party, and the balance will go into maturation for our own single malt. So capacity utilization is going to be the key.
Time to build and cost to build is going to be our important drivers of the way our CapEx decision are being done. So when we are giving a margin guidance, all this has been baked into our into our model. On the growth front, I think I would say that we have two, and this point I made even earlier, that I think when we are talking about premiumization in the Indian subcontinent, we have to start focusing on value growth, because volume growth may not be a correct indication of what's happening with the consumer. So we are talking about a mid-double-digit value growth.
A, it'll come on back of what we are doing with ABD Maestro, because quarter-over-quarter, we are looking at, you know, accelerated run rates, about INR 40 crore last quarter, hopefully INR 80 crore+ this quarter, so doubling. And we should exit again, double this run rate in next year, and therefore it really brings in a significant top-line growth. We are looking at two new brands in the P&A brandy and vodka segment. And in the mass premium segment, as you know, in Andhra Pradesh, specifically, there is this big, profitable brandy price point, which has now gone on to become roughly 12 million cases, in which we did not have a presence till last quarter.
And we've been able to get our in principle clearance, and we are hopeful in this quarter we start participating in this 12 million-case market, in which we didn't exist till last quarter. So even at a reasonable market share of X percent, we should be able to get a very, very large volume, I mean, another million-case millionaire brand in making. So I think the volume growth focus will continue both in the mass premium segment, wherever there's a profitable price point available, profitable flavor available. We are largely a whiskey company. However, this particular opportunity in Andhra, for example, is a brandy. So we are expanding our flavor repertoire in mass premium, where here we were only whiskey only, now we'll do brandy as well.
And therefore, the volume growth will come from mass premium, it'll come from P&A, and it'll come through new brand. And the value growth will come on back of both volume growth in our core MFL portfolio, but also growth in the ABDM portfolio. Sorry, slightly, long response, but I hope it clarifies the subject on growth.
Yeah, this is very, very useful and very insightful. Only point if you can just also clarify on the impact of these new brand launches, will that be margin dilutive in the first year? And, is that also built into your margin expectations?
The investment that we need to make, in our luxury portfolio is already built in, and the margin guidance of 1 7%-18% accounts for this investment.
Okay, it's 18%, right? Or it's a range of 17%-18%?
17%-18%.
Okay.
You can pick a number.
Got it. Okay. Another question quickly on your, the impact from Maharashtra and Telangana. So Telangana, given that now the route to market will be stabilized, all that you have lost, I know you said that, you will do double-digit growth, aim for double-digit growth in Q4, but all that you have lost in the, you know, revenue for Q4-Q3, should be recovered more or less in Q4? I mean, you should see the stable state volume numbers in Q4, or should there be any more impact, prolonging even in Q4? What about Maharashtra? Maharashtra should take longer, right?
So Telangana, I think, we believe that Q4 is back to normal, for us. Maharashtra, like I was trying to explain earlier, that we have taken Q3 exit base as a likely market size in Q4. So that's our assumption, that the Q4 market size would be similar to Q3, and we have done our modeling, growth modeling on that base. We are hopeful that it'll not materially alter.
How is your trend being post in Q3 in Maharashtra? Has it further deteriorated, or it has improved? Or just--
January numbers are yet to come in. I think we'll get to know by mid-February, once the industry data comes in, whether our assumption is holding good or not. So far from what we are seeing, it seems to be okay.
Got it. Very useful. Thank you so much for answering all the questions.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Sanjay Manyal with DAM Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. I have a few questions. Firstly, on the ICONiQ White, you have seen brilliant growth in last few years on the brand. I believe a decent growth would have been coming from you know, gaining the shares from a competing brand, Imperial Blue. Now, have you seen any renewed competition specifically from this brand, given that you know, change of brand owner over there?
I think we are, and we were, and we are mentally prepared that with the new owner having acquired Imperial Blue, they would do whatever it takes. So we have proactively segmented our program in the market, be it in terms of trade engagement, consumer engagement, be it in terms of what we do at BTL level. So I think we are reasonably well prepared to ensure that the growth trajectory of ICONiQ is not compromised. So what is in our control is what we do. What is not in our control is what the competition does. So we have proactively taken all required steps. I'm also happy to share with you is that ICONiQ is now sort of running at 1 million cases a month, which gets us to a 12 million cases ARR any which way.
Also, I spoke about earlier that we have received approval for ICONiQ in CSD. That opens up, opens up another growth opportunity for us. We are not present there. And, ICONiQ is now getting shipped into nine countries internationally. We are looking at aggressively expanding the footprint of ICONiQ. So apart from the growth in the market where it's already operating, CSD will become a very important channel for us, international markets will become a very important channel for us, and the brand, in any case, is currently running at a 12 million case ARR. And that's how we are, that's how we are sort of prepared to ensure that the growth momentum on ICONiQ is maintained.
Sure. And one on the ABD Maestro, if you can highlight any success of late or which brand seems to be break even first or reaching a sort of a benchmark volume number, if you can highlight that.
Most certainly. I think January 2024 is when we started our journey in the luxury build up of the luxury portfolio. Zoya was our first brand launched in January 2024. Extremely happy to share with you that the brand has grown almost 300% since its launch. More importantly, we've spoken about, you know, right to win from a consumer point of view. We've launched two new flavors, which is the Zoya Watermelon and the Zoya Espresso Martini Gin. Now, I'll tell you why I'm talking about these two flavors. Our thesis was that post-COVID, a lot of consumption has moved in-home, but making cocktails is not easy, and the idea was to bring flavors that allow consumer to enjoy cocktail in the comfort of their home.
So Espresso Martini is one of the largest selling cocktails in the bar. With our Espresso Martini gin, all you have to do is to buy a shaker, which you can buy off Amazon. Ice is available. Just shake it up and pour in a glass of your choice, and your Espresso Martini is ready. And same is the case with the Watermelon gin, that you can, you know, just put ice in the shaker and pour in a glass of your choice, and you want to add a strawberry, just get it out and smart. So I think what really is happening with Zoya is that it is just making it convenient for a consumer to enjoy the cocktails. And the interesting data point is that today, 30% of Zoya sale comes from flavor up.
But more importantly, 95% of the sales happens off-premise, which is an indication that consumers are actually picking it up, taking it home, and actually enjoying these flavors. So I think, this is one success story, and we'll build on the success story, for all our brands. The portfolio has got nine brands now, in which we have, a Scotch malt, Scotch blended malt. We have an Irish whiskey. We've got two beautiful Indian whiskeys. We've got two vodkas, Rangeela, which is sort of the bold face of India, and Russian Standard, which is a global brand. So the portfolio buildup is complete, but I can walk you through more case studies. But Zoya is the most interesting one because we are a whiskey-forward company. For us, getting a success in a gin flavor, is, is very enjoyable.
Right, sir. And lastly, if you can mention one thing that your—what would be your ENA requirement as of now, and by, say, at the end of FY 2027, once your distillery, new distillery comes on stream, what percentage of ENA would you be sourcing indigenously?
Yes, I think the way to look at it is that what is our forward requirement? So let's say even at 50 million cases, our requirement is 200 million liters of ENA. We produce currently about 70 million liters in-house, which is 60 million liters in Rangapur and about 10 in Maharashtra. With the expansion of the Minakshi Distillery, we'll take the number, add another 50 million. So by FY 2027, we should be about 120 million, and that is why we need to invest in one more plant of about 60 million -70 million liters to get us to about 200. So we are targeting 200 million liters, of which we are currently at 70. We'll be at about 120 million by FY 2027 and balance by end of FY 2028.
Perfect, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much for all the answers.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Dhiraj Mistry with ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, Alok. Hi, congratulations on your margin surprise. Sir, I have only two questions. One is, if I look at ex of ICONiQ White, how's the traction, especially in the premium end of the portfolio, let's say, Sterling Reserve B7, B10, and Officer, Officer's Choice Blue?
Sorry, Dhiraj, I didn't get your question. Can you please repeat it for me?
Can you comment the growth trajectory for non-ICONiQ part of the portfolio, that is Sterling Reserve B7, B10, and Officer's Choice Blue? How's the volume growth traction in those brands?
Dhiraj, as far as our approach has been slightly different. If you look at the 410 million case industry, roughly 120 million cases, what we call as prestige whiskey, which is really the price point of McDowell's Number One, Royal Challenge, Royal Stag, and Imperial Blue. So our approach has been that, how do we meaningfully, profitably carve out market share? So currently, we are at about 15% market share on back of Officer's Choice Blue, ICONiQ, and SRB seven. And idea is to keep looking at getting market share at an aggregate level. So that's the response in terms of what the approach is. In terms of growth, ICONiQ, of course, is continuing to grow.
OC Blue and ICONiQ operate at the same price point, so we look at OC Blue, being a regional brand in core pockets of strength, and we look at numbers together. SRB7 is where our task is cut out. Currently, we are experiencing a bit of degrowth on that brand. We have put together a program on the new brand, which has given us success. We are also looking at now launching a new pack in Q1 of the next financial year, and I think with that, targeting growth to- targeting to bring back growth back in SRB7.
Got it. And then, some follow-up question on this part. Is my assertion right, that B7 would be much more gross margin accretive compared to ICONiQ White?
As you mean as a percentage? Is that your question?
Yes. Yes.
B7, I think it will be, it'll be in the same range. Maybe ICONiQ is 150-200 basis points behind SRB7, but it'll be the same range.
Got it. And second question is on which would be the five key states for ICONiQ White? And when I compare it with, let's say, Officer's Choice, which are the five top states for Officer's Choice also?
So the top five states for ICONiQ would be UP, where the brand is stocking close to 2 million cases. The big state is Telangana, the big state is Andhra, the big state is-- Yeah, these are the three, I mean, because, you know, these states too, they're all crossing, of course. Haryana. So I think Haryana, UP north, Telangana, Andhra in south, are the four big markets for ICONiQ. Telangana, UP are the two top markets for Officer's Choice is the way the stacker would be. So Telangana and UP are common to both the brands.
Got it. That's it from my side. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Karan Kamdar with Choice Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Great set of numbers. I wanted to understand how, how do you view your playbook for distribution, given that we are growing at a very fast pace? I'm sure the competition is also doing something. So what, what are we doing differently from the competition?
Well, I think I'll broadly divide this into two parts. The first is our portfolio with ABD, which is operating at a price point of, let's say, INR 1,500, where the focus continues to be on off-premise. Our distribution width is about 93%. And we have very strong what we call as PJP, Permanent Journey Plan discipline. We have automated the sales calling process of our TSCs onto the retail to be able to get, you know, enough data and diagnostic in terms of how well we are covering the retail, what is the classification of retail, which outlet needs to be covered, how many times?
So there is a bit of a science that is at play when it comes to off-premise, because we're dealing with a very large universe. Combined with a tech intervention and automation, we're now using data to our advantage in terms of figuring out how do we improve and make the sales calls efficient. We're also using a tech platform to monitor the various incentives that we run for counter salesmen, which allows us the ability to directly communicate with them. So if I was a salesman in a market, it could be Gorakhpur, it could be Guntur, it could be Dhanbad, I know, as an individual, I know what is the incentive offered to me. I know what am I earning.
I know what I need to do to earn that incentive. So we have seen a significant change in the engagement of the counter salesman, because now we are talking one-on-one. We are not necessarily relying on a sales guy, a salesperson to reach there and inform and guide. Pretty much it's an app on their phone, and they can actually see what they are making. So that's really the big focus as far as the off-premise is concerned. On the on-premise side, with the ABDM portfolio, the focus is on key accounts. So the team that we've built out comes from significant knowledge of managing key accounts, managing travel retail, because that requires a very different engagement.
As you know, we've been able to get our listing done in the Taj, we've been able to get our listing done in ITC, also partially Marriott. So that's a very different skill set. So we have to make sure that the teams bring in the skill set, how can we leverage technology? How can we leverage data? And how can we start taking decisions that will help us to get that distribution edge? On top of it, one big initiative that we're doing is digitizing the entire training program, because till about a year back, year and a half back, most of our sales team was really selling Officer's Choice, Officer's Choice Blue, Sterling Reserve B7, and a few other brand ICONiQ.
But now they also need to carry, right from, Zoya all the way to Arthaus. So we have now digitized our entire training program, in terms of range selling, in terms of, what makes a brand unique, what are the unique cocktails associated with it, what is the trivia? And once the whole digitization, process we get completed, which we are targeting over, by end of next quarter, which means every salesman, whether it is in, Dibrugarh or it is in Goa, should be able to access information on the brand, quiz, FAQs, should be able to answer the question of the retailer or the consumer. So combination of the right manpower, technology, data, bringing the right training intervention, is the way we are maintaining our distribution edge.
Great, sir. Sir, if I may ask, what is your on-premise currently, and where do we see it over the next few years, as a percentage of sales?
So our on-premise with distribution is at about 40%. Premium on-premise distribution is 40%, which is relevant for ABDM. I think the way to look at it is we should see about 5%-7% increase in distribution quarter on quarter. So we should exit next year, say, at about 65%-70% distribution reach.
Distribution reach. No, I mean, as a percentage of volumes, what would it be? Maybe P&A volumes.
So as far as P&A volumes are concerned, it's really 98% to-- I mean, in P&A, it's largely an off-premise, but off-premise revenue, right? But as far as the ABD Maestro portfolio is concerned, it will be like a 25%-35%. 25% coming from premium market and 75% coming from retail.
25%, 75%. Okay, perfect. Thanks. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Tanmay Gupta with Bank of India Mutual Fund. Please go.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. So my question is towards the mass-
Mr. Gupta, sorry for interrupting. We cannot hear you. Can you come a little closer to the mic and speak?
Sure. Can you hear me now?
Yes, please go ahead.
Okay. The question is regarding to the mass segment. So, you--
Mr. Gupta, once again, sorry for interrupting. We cannot hear you. Can you come a little closer to the mic and speak?
Now, now it's audible?
Yeah, go ahead.
It's audible.
Repeat the question. Why don't you go and ask the question? I'll repeat it for you. Go ahead, please.
Thank you.
Okay. So the question is regarding the mass premium segment. So you mentioned that there has been 7% impact due to Telangana. So even after factoring that, we are seeing around 5% degrowth in last two quarters consistently. So first of all, how do we restrict this loss or losing the market share? Or either we should expect that this segment will be like 4.5 million -5 million rate quarterly going forward?
So I want to just repeat the question for benefit of others who are listening in. Your question is that, in the first half, that we've seen, degrowth in the mass premium because of Telangana and Maharashtra. Going forward, you know, what will be the source of growth, right? Is that largely your question?
Yeah. No, again, the question, like, sir, like we are making some--y ou know, how would we restrict the loss? Like, you know, even after factoring these two states, we are still, around 5% degrowth, right, in terms of volume for the last two quarters.
Right. So I think, going state by state, we are expecting Q4 to be back to normal, and therefore, we expect our regular volumes to pick up in Telangana. So that's one. Secondly, I spoke about the big opportunity in Andhra Pradesh, where currently brandy, let's say a mass premium brandy segment, is now 12 million cases, in which we currently do not operate. Now, we have our approvals in place, and we are hopeful of starting our bottling in quarter four. So with even a, you know, even with a reasonable market share of 15%-20%, I think we are looking at another 1.5 million , about 2 million cases to come from the mass premium brandy segment in which we were not operating.
So I think the source of growth for us is going to be Telangana getting back to normal, and our entry into the brandy segment in the state of Andhra Pradesh, in the mass premium segment, where we were not operating. Of course, our focus will continue on growing our volume in other state. For example, UP will continue to deliver us growth and many other states will deliver growth. I think one more point, which we have not stressed enough, is the fact that we have applied through Minakshi, our subsidiary, to participate in the MML category. We believe that we qualify to participate in the MML category, and if we were to get those permission, then that will open up a significant growth opportunity for us.
It's not factored into our guidance. This will be on top of whatever guidance we have given. So, just wanted to sort of give you a 30,000 feet view on where we think the growth will come from.
Okay. So going forward, we can expect like, 4 Q will be the normalized quarter, and we can expect 5% around, you know, mid-single-digit volume growth in this segment.
Yeah.
Is that right understanding?
Yeah. So I think in the mass premium segment, we should look at a low single digit growth. I don't want to put a number to it. P&A will continue to grow at double digit, high double digit, and that, that should get us to, a near double digit growth with a mid-double digit growth in terms of volume, value.
So overall, mid-double digit growth because of these two things.
Mid double-digit growth in terms of value and early double-digit growth in terms of volume.
Okay, sir. Sir, in P&A, how should we, like, measure the growth or success story in the ABD Maestro portfolio? I understand you mentioned about Zoya, which is doing phenomenally well, but any KPI if you want to highlight, which we should track for this portfolio?
So I think there are. The segment is about 12 million cases and continues to grow fastest within the alcobev space. So if you were to look at the current 12 million -13 million cases, likely to grow to in the next 3-5 years, let's say 17 million -18 million cases. Our portfolio approach is that if you can meaningfully carve out a single-digit market share of this large portfolio, then it should have a significant impact, both in terms of value and in terms of the EBITDA that it will make. There is one more opportunity that will come our way, which is post-UK FTA implementation. We believe that there'll be an opportunity for us to participate profitably in the value Scotch segment.
Currently, the value Scotch segment is growing, but there's no money there. So we are sort of brand ready, in the sense that, as and when the India-UK FTA is implemented, we would like to participate in the value Scotch segment. As you know, of the 12 million -13 million cases in luxury, about 50% is value Scotch. And currently, we are not playing in that segment because there's no money to be made. So I think ABD Maestro will have a significant role to play in terms of driving our value growth and also in terms of adding to our margins.
Okay. Lastly, sir, this P&A volume growth, if I look at it, it clocks at around 19% for this quarter. What if this Telangana impact doesn't have happened, then what could be the growth like? It should be continued at 25%?
Well, actually, for Telangana, like I'd mentioned earlier, the P&A industry in Telangana grew at about 17%, and we also grew at about 17.5%. Telangana impact was largely-- Telangana change in, the, the sort of, the license disruption that happened actually hit just the mass premium segment. P&A grew there at 17%.
Understood. Thank you very much, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Vaibhav Gupta with Bowhead India Fund. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. With regard to your brand launch pipeline , I just wanted to understand, do we plan to launch two brandy brands, one in the P&A and one in regular, and one more P&A vodka brand? And what would be the typical price points?
Yes. So we are looking at a brandy launch in the mass premium segment, in the prestige segment. And we already have Kyron, which is our premium brandy. And the reason I'm mentioning this to you is that we have a reasonable market share of 25% in the two markets that it operates, is in Telangana and in Andhra. Now that we've received CSD approval, we are going to look at carving out growth from CSD as well. Of the million case segment, roughly about 27% of sales comes from CSD, so it's a very large cohort in terms of driving the Kyron sales. So a brandy in the mass premium segment, a brandy in the prestige segment, and a brandy in the premium segment. So three brandy brands.
Okay, okay. So, I understand Golden Mist would be around INR 1,000 price point. How is Kyron placed?
Kyron is roughly INR 1,400.
Okay, okay. And, sir, what about the P&A vodka brand? What are the plans there and the typical price point at which you would be looking to launch?
So we've already launched the brand in Telangana. It's currently at sort of the market width of distribution, driving the width of distribution. It's called Golden Mist, and we'll expand it in the coming quarters.
Sir, I was asking about P&A vodka brand.
Oh, P&A vodka brand. PNA vodka brand, we're looking at Q1 next financial year. The segment is large and growing, as you know, and we're quite excited about the new brand launch in the P&A vodka.
Got it. And just one final clarification: so our exit run rate in the luxury ABD Maestro portfolio is around INR 40 crore, and we would be doubling for the next two years, so to reach around INR 160 crore-INR 200 crore. Right, sir?
That's what we're targeting.
Sure. That's all from my side. Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Chetan with Systematix Group. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, thank you for the opportunity. So I just wanted to understand, your higher A&P spend had, say, partially offset our gross margins this quarter, and which were basically towards the luxury brands. So going ahead, how should we look at, A&P spend? And, and is this 18% margin guidance taking into consideration, say, the elevated promotional spends, which will come ahead?
Yes. So the 17%-18% guidance takes into account the increased A&P investment, both in our portfolio at ABD and also the portfolio at ABDM.
Okay, got it, sir. Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Avnish Tiwari with Vaikarya Change LLP. Please go ahead.
Hi. Since you're making investments in UP, and you articulated rationales for them, can you compare state policy environment in UP in terms of your outlook, as well as the competitive environment in the categories which you are trying to go into?
Well, I think the framework of UP has been fairly progressive. We have seen a policy that drives premiumization, therefore healthier margins for the industry. We also saw last year that the incidence of excise duty payment was moved from the manufacturer to the wholesaler. That made the entire industry more working capital efficient because the duty funding moved to the wholesaler. We are also hearing of the fact that, you know, the UPML, which is a large category, would move from molasses-based ENA to a grain-based ENA. So that is extremely good news, because we are looking at setting up a state-of-the-art ENA distillery in UP, which means there'll be a very large market for ENA in that state.
What it has essentially done is that it has created a positive investment environment, because when it's a larger market, where you're making money, and it is, it's working capital efficient, like we are setting up. We've acquired NICOL. We are setting up a state-of-the-art, fully automated bottling unit there. We are also looking at expanding the ENA capacity in time to come. The state actually has made itself very attractive in terms of drawing investments. So that would be my thesis on UP as a state. As far as competitive landscape is concerned, I think it's no different than any other market, except having a large asset base. Manufacturing asset base in UP gives you a definite edge, and that's what we are trying to build in UP.
And within that category, now this is more on the liquor consumption. So let's say the categories you are present versus, for example, beers or, some other category, where is that UP as a consumer, is picking up more? Which category volumes are growing the highest?
I am afraid I do not have the numbers on me ready, but we'll be happy to get some data out and share it with you.
Okay, great. No worries. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Abhijeet Kundu, with Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, Alok. Great set of numbers. So, I had two questions. One was on ICONiQ White. Now, you know, everyone has a concern that ICONiQ White has, I mean, the base has become pretty large and going ahead, the growth may not be as substantial. But still, you know, there should be good amount of scaling up opportunity, right? Because no one about two years back, no one thought that this brand would scale up so fast and do so well. You know, and other brands when they grow to this size, there have been very few such instances of a brand doing so well and going to this, I mean, scaling up to this size in such a short time.
And primarily, it has been driven by these four states. So you know, you would have some more scaling up opportunities in other states also, right? Because general channel checks also suggest that in West Bengal also, you have been doing well in ICONiQ White. So there would be such states where you would be getting some fillers and, you know, you can still scale up ICONiQ White and still grow that brand, even from these levels. My first question was this.
Yeah. Thanks, Abhijit. I think, I would agree with your thesis, that apart from the four or five large markets, that the brand has, is, you know, is a reasonable presence, there is an opportunity across many markets. The brand, last year we did 5.7 million, we should be crossing 10 million. It is happening because the brand is growing practically in every market, in some market, significantly higher, in some market, higher, right? So all, all markets continue to contribute, contribute. The brand is already running at a 1 million case ARR. That gets us to about a 12 million case run rate. Put some growth on top of that.
I have, I will maintain, we'll maintain our position that this brand has the ability to be a market leader, whether it takes a year and a half or it takes two years, that's a matter of time. Also, what makes ICONiQ an interesting case is that it is getting larger share of new consumers who are moving into the segment, largely because it's a fresher, more younger brand. And, if the first time consumer who's moving at this price point would look at what are their peers franchising, and therefore, ICONiQ comes through the word of mouth, which is very, very strong. In addition, there are two more growth hacks. One, like I spoke about, is CSD, where we have received our approval.
It's a fairly large segment, and therefore, that will also add to the ICONiQ growth. And international markets, we are currently shipping to about nine countries. Our footprint will be 35 by the end of this financial year, and therefore, that gives us a very long distribution opportunity even in the international market. So, that's really where we are with brand ICONiQ. We stay optimistic. I think I will just connect to a question that was asked to us. I think important thing is that we do not take the success for granted, and we continuously stay hungry about driving the growth and also recognize that there is a change in the competitive landscape, and we have a program that recognizes it and maintains the growth momentum.
Okay, great. My second question was on Zoya. So Zoya, how do you see the brand evolving over the next two years? What would be the ARR right now? I mean, something on that?
You know, we've said it earlier that when we started our journey in the luxury segment, by design, we are a whiskey-forward company. You know, 99% of our revenue comes from whiskey. So by design, we said that our first luxury brand, if you make it non-whiskey, it'll be really stress-testing, you know, our capability in terms of building brands, blend, and route to market. So I think to that extent, we are quite happy with what we've done with Zoya. Zoya, of course, operates in a segment which is not the largest segment, but from a gross margin perspective, the highest gross margin category, you know, gross margins are above 70%. We've got two new flavors launched. We've now shifted to three countries.
So I think, Zoya will continue its growth journey both in India and overseas market, but it will be limited by the size of the market. The portfolio that we've now built out, some of the newer brands, for example, the Irish whiskey, as you know, is one of the fastest growing category in India, and there's a single brand play. So we're quite excited about, AODH, which is the Irish whiskey. If you look at Woodburns and you look at YELLO , the two craft whiskeys that we have, Indian whiskeys that we have, again, very excited about, these price points and these products, because they will scale up in terms of larger volumes.
So Abhijeet, like I said earlier, I think the way to look at the ABDM portfolio, the ABDM business is at a portfolio level and not at a brand level, because it reduces our cost of sale. When we go to a premium on-premise, we go with the one brand, it's binary. Either the person buys it or doesn't buy it. When we go with the portfolio, then we have the ability of at least making a sale, and that is proving to be true. So apart from Zoya, I think some of the big volume drivers in time to come to my mind are going to be the Irish Whiskey, Woodburns, and YELLO .
Once the UK FTA is in place, I think the opportunity that will open up in value Scotch is going to be tremendous.
Understood. That's it from my side. Thanks, thanks. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions, we have reached the end of question and answer session. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Well, thank you once again for taking the time out and listening in. Thank you for all the questions. I think we are quite excited about quarter four, and look forward to connecting again sometime in April and early May.
Thank you. On behalf of Allied Blenders and Distillers, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your line.